Kirk-Haters: Be Careful What You Wish For

I wrote here about the Redskins options for a replacement Quarterback in Free Agency. Now, it’s time to turn attention to the daft.

It used to anger me how so much of the Redskins fanbase seemed so blind to what the team finally has at QB. But it dawned on me recently – I don’t think it’s so much they can’t see what he offers. They just want more.

And there’s nothing wrong with wanting more. I’ve heard countless occasions where certain radio hosts have had to defend their Pro-Cousins stance, which in itself is an odd thing to have to do when you really think about it, by using sentences like “we’re not comparing him to Brady or Rodgers”.

But therein lies the problem. That’s exactly what most of these fans want: an elite QB at the helm, not just a good one.

Which is great. Hey, I’d love Brady or Rodgers too. That would be just grand. But whilst there’s nothing wrong with wanting more, a sprinkle of realism wouldn’t go amiss here. This isn’t Madden Ultimate Team.

Since the year 2000 (the year Brady was drafted) up to 2016 there were 213 Quarterbacks selected by NFL teams. Let’s assume for the purpose of this process that every QB was available to draft again as a rookie. I went through and counted 10 players I think would be consensus “no-debate” picks over Cousins by Redskins fans.

Carson Wentz

Dak Prescott

Andrew Luck

Russell Wilson

Matt Ryan

Aaron Rodgers

Ben Roethlisberger

Phillip Rivers

Drew Brees

Tom Brady

I counted a further 10 “highly debatable” guys. These are pretty contentious; some fans would take guys here, others would prefer Cousins. The point is, it’s not clear and it’s probably pretty negligible how much better or worse the Redskins would be either way.

Jameis Winston

Marcus Mariota

Derek Carr

Ryan Tannehill

Cam Newton

Matthew Stafford

Alex Smith

Eli Manning

Carson Palmer

Michael Vick

But here we get to the crux of the problem. If you want clearly better than Cousins, there are 10 guys here from a pool of 213. That’s a 4.7% chance you’re going to markedly improve. Heck let’s throw in the contingency 10 – now you’re up to a 9.4% chance of getting better or at least standing still.

Which of course, leaves the 90.6% chance you get worse. And yes, I’m going to list all of the other guys who were drafted. Even though many are late round picks which is a strategy the Redskins are unlikely to turn to, it still paints an ugly picture. Some are closer to being debatable than a flat-out no, but I’d wager Kirk wins a fan vote-off against all of them.

Jared Goff

Paxton Lynch

Christian Hackenberg

Jacoby Brissett

Cody Kessler

Connor Cook

Cardale Jones

Kevin Hogan

Nate Sudfeld

Jake Rudock

Brandon Allen

Jeff Driskel

Brandon Doughty

Garrett Grayson

Sean Mannion

Bryce Petty

Brett Hundley

Trevor Siemian

Blake Bortles

Johnny Manziel

Teddy Bridgewater

Jimmy Garoppolo

Logan Thomas

Tom Savage

Aaron Murray

A.J. McCarron

Zach Mettenberger

David Fales

Keith Wenning

Tajh Boyd

Garrett Gilbert

EJ Manuel

Geno Smith

Mike Glennon

Matt Barkley

Ryan Nassib

Tyler Wilson

Landry Jones

Brad Sorensen

Zac Dysert

B.J. Daniels

Sean Renfree

Robert Griffin

Brandon Weeden

Brock Osweiler

Nick Foles

Kirk Cousins

Ryan Lindley

B.J. Coleman

Chandler Harnish

Jake Locker

Blaine Gabbert

Christian Ponder

Andy Dalton

Colin Kaepernick

Ryan Mallett

Ricky Stanzi

T.J. Yates

Nathan Enderle

Tyrod Taylor

Greg McElroy

Sam Bradford

Tim Tebow

Jimmy Clausen

Colt McCoy

Mike Kafka

John Skelton

Jonathan Crompton

Rusty Smith

Dan LeFevour

Tony Pike

Levi Brown

Sean Canfield

Zac Robinson

Mark Sanchez

Josh Freeman

Pat White

Stephen McGee

Rhett Bomar

Nate Davis

Tom Brandstater

Mike Teel

Keith Null

Curtis Painter

Joe Flacco

Brian Brohm

Chad Henne

Kevin O’Connell

John David Booty

Dennis Dixon

Josh Johnson

Erik Ainge

Colt Brennan

Andre Woodson

Matt Flynn

Alex Brink

JaMarcus Russell

Brady Quinn

Kevin Kolb

John Beck

Drew Stanton

Trent Edwards

Isaiah Stanback

Jeff Rowe

Troy Smith

Jordan Palmer

Tyler Thigpen

Vince Young

Matt Leinart

Jay Cutler

Kellen Clemens

Tarvaris Jackson

Charlie Whitehurst

Brodie Croyle

Brad Smith

Ingle Martin

Omar Jacobs

Reggie McNeal

Bruce Gradkowski

D.J. Shockley

Jason Campbell

Charlie Frye

Andrew Walter

David Greene

Kyle Orton

Stefan Lefors

Dan Orlovsky

Adrian McPherson

Derek Anderson

James Kilian

Matt Cassel

Ryan Fitzpatrick

J.P. Losman

Matt Schaub

Luke McCown

Craig Krenzel

Andy Hall

Josh Harris

Jim Sorgi

Jeff Smoker

John Navarre

Cody Pickett

Casey Bramlet

Matt Mauck

B.J. Symons

Bradlee Van Pelt

Byron Leftwich

Kyle Boller

Rex Grossman

Dave Ragone

Chris Simms

Seneca Wallace

Brian St. Pierre

Drew Henson

Brooks Bollinger

Kliff Kingsbury

Gibran Hamdan

Ken Dorsey

David Carr

Joey Harrington

Patrick Ramsey

Josh McCown

David Garrard

Rohan Davey

Randy Fasani

Kurt Kittner

Brandon Doman

Craig Nall

J.T. O’Sullivan

Steve Bellisari

Seth Burford

Jeff Kelly

Wes Pate

Quincy Carter

Marques Tuiasosopo

Chris Weinke

Sage Rosenfels

Jesse Palmer

Mike McMahon

A.J. Feeley

Josh Booty

Josh Heupel

Chad Pennington

Giovanni Carmazzi

Chris Redman

Tee Martin

Marc Bulger

Spergon Wynn

Todd Husak

JaJuan Seider

Tim Rattay

Jarious Jackson

Joe Hamilton

If you still want to move on from Kirk to buy a lottery ticket – more power to you. I admire your ability to dream big.

2 thoughts on “Kirk-Haters: Be Careful What You Wish For”

As a Giants fan, I am in a weird position.
I am rooting like hell for the Redskins and Kirk Cousins this year. Why?
Because the better he does and you do, the more certain it is that your dumbass front office won’t give him the record-breaking contract he’ll command, and he goes somewhere else and you’re back to the days of Rex Grossman and Heath Shuler and Tony Banks and Colt McCoy and oh man I can’t wait.